Unicist approach to ethical issues of EMR

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Ethical and legal issues of EMR are still unsolved. The problem is extremely complex. On one hand EMR allow the achievement of “absolute” transparency of the information needed to cure patiens. But on the other hand this information needs to be safe, secure and confidential. This appears to be the main problem of Obama’s Administration project. See Medscape article:

Excerpt

“No doctor can ignore the growing pressures to start using an EMR. With the Obama administration avidly promoting healthcare information technology, and tens of thousands of dollars at stake in incentives and future penalties for doctors, more physicians will be implementing EMRs in the coming years. Under the recently passed American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, physicians who demonstrate meaningful use of EMR by 2011 will be eligible for full federal subsidies of up to $44,000. Failure to implement EMR by 2014 may also result in increased malpractice premiums and increased exposure to malpractice claims, as well as a reduction in Medicare reimbursement, beginning in 2015.”